Category Archives: Science & Tech

Laptops & Big Data /// Mosquito Drones

A couple of interesting stories,

Smack! Was that a Mosquito You Killed, Or a Drone?
Micro Aerial Vehicles being developed by US military and researchers at John Hopkins University.

Your Laptop Can Now Analyze Big Data
“New software makes it possible to do in minutes on a small computer what used to be done by large clusters of computers.”

Cure for Dengue Fever? — Stopping Dengue Fever With Bacteria and Math

Given the current outbreak of Dengue Fever in Pakistan (mostly in Punjab at the moment), the following might be of interest.

Interesting article in Science Daily,

Stopping Dengue Fever With Bacteria and Math

It may be possible to eliminate the deadly dengue fever by infecting mosquitoes with a bacterium called Wolbachia that prevents the mosquitoes from transmitting the dengue virus to humans. A new mathematical model, developed by Nick Barton (Institute of Science and Technology, Austria) and Michael Turelli (University of California, Davis), may be helpful in getting the bacteria established in mosquito populations.

Abstract from Nature.com,
Successful establishment of Wolbachia in Aedes populations to suppress dengue transmission

From The American Naturalist,
http://www.jstor.org/pss/10.1086/661247

Photography: Focus AFTER you shoot!

While browsing PC World, came across a cool video,
Lytro Light-Field Camera Lets You Focus After You Shoot

A Light Field camera in the prototype (soon to be released commercially) allows you to focus AFTER you take the shot. Don’t have to focus before taking the shot or wait for Auto-Focus, just point and click. Get the snap and then play around with the focus. I am a total layman and not into photography, but this really seems like a cool/novel development.

Lytro are the ones involved in this camera. They have a picture gallery on their website where you can play around with the focus on some photos (didn’t work too well in Opera, so try IE or other mainstream browsers like Chrome/Firefox).

A lot of the tech sites/blogs are covering this story. You can also google lytro and sift through the stories/blogs to learn more about the story.

Interesting Science Stories of the Day

A couple of stories that caught my eye.

Solar Power Without Solar Cells: A Hidden Magnetic Effect of Light Could Make It Possible
A dramatic and surprising magnetic effect of light discovered by University of Michigan researchers could lead to solar power without traditional semiconductor-based solar cells…

Watson Goes to Work in the Hospital
Technology like that inside the Jeopardy! champ is being used to identify when babies are acquiring an infection.

US unveils new GPS for troops

New GPS device for troops unveiled

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 25 (UPI) — Rockwell Collins of the United States has unveiled a smaller Global Position System receiver for use by troops in the field.

The MicroGRAM GPS receiver, it said, is 90 percent smaller than the earlier version of its Miniature Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver Engine SAASM, enabling equipment such as hand-held radios, ruggedized field computers, laser range finders, gun scopes and small unmanned aircraft to be equipped with secure GPS capability.

“Today’s warfighters must be prepared to find their way in unfamiliar environments, along with having precision accuracy in their weapons systems,” said Bob Haag, vice president and general manager of Precision Strike and Navigation Products for Rockwell Collins. “Our new MicroGRAM opens up a whole new world of secure, military GPS technology for equipment that previously could not have it.

“Before now, this equipment could only use commercial GPS technology, which does not have the required military security features that warfighters need to avoid enemy threats.”

The company said MicroGRAM’s unique security features are the result of designing a rugged product that leverages Rockwell Collins’ strong legacy in providing Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module capabilities.

Engineered to minimize its footprint and power usage, the MicroGRAM has been optimized to allow rapid acquisition of the GPS satellites when power is first supplied to it, Rockwell Collins said.

How to build muscles?

An interesting article I came across in ScienceDaily which discusses research on heavier weights vs. lighter ones. The key being muscle fatigue.

Building Muscle Doesn’t Require Lifting Heavy Weights, Study Shows

“Rather than grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can grab something much lighter but you have to lift it until you can’t lift it anymore,” says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University.

PopSci: Hummers & Drones

Found two items of interest at Popular Science,

The Hummer is Dead

Hummers may have toyed with adapting to leaner times as plug-in hybrids, but the end has finally come for the long-time sport-utility brand based on the military workhorse. A General Motors deal to sell off its brand to a Chinese manufacturer collapsed after the companies were still waiting on Chinese government approval, the New York Times reports.

This truly makes 2010 the end of an era for both the civilian and military versions of the Hummer. The U.S. Army announced earlier this month that it would no longer order Humvees, and would instead turn to the armored MRAPs that have proven more resistant to roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Army still plans to keep its existing Humvees in service, according to DOD Buzz.
…

The Present and Future of Unmanned Drone Aircraft: An Illustrated Field Guide

…44 countries fly UAVs, according to P.W. Singer, a fellow at the public-policy think tank the Brookings Institution and author of Wired for War. Last year, the U.S. Air Force trained more UAV pilots than fighter and bomber pilots combined. “Every so often in history, there’s a tech that comes along that rewrites the rules of the game,” Singer says. “I describe this as a revolution.”
…
You may not have actually seen one yet, but you will (unless, of course, it doesn’t want to be seen). To give you a leg up on identification, here’s your field guide
to the latest UAV discoveries, as well as an overview of the most prevalent systems in use today.
Gallery: The Complete UAV Field Guide

Genetic Engineering Insulin from Safflower

An interesting and promising development regarding Insulin which is of so much importance for diabetics. Scientists at the Univ. of Calgary have successfully produced insulin from Safflower by inserting human insulin gene into the plant. The method is faster than existing traditional methods and crucially is also cheaper. The cheap part should have enormous implications for poorer countries where many are denied diabetic care because of the cost of insulin. Read more below at Popular Science (link below) and also click on the ctv link in that story to get more info as well as a short video. Just 16,000 acres of the flower can meet the world’s annual demand for insulin. The safflower insulin has passed testing on humans and found to be safe so far. The next crucial step will be testing on actual diabetic patients. The tests are scheduled for next year, so this is not a done deal yet. If the insulin successfully helps actual diabetic patients, it could be a most significant and beneficial development.

Insulin Can Now Be Made Cheaply from Flowers

Dark Ages or The Forgotten Years of Muslim Contribution?

Learn about the contributions of muslim scientists & scholars to the world. Engineering, Mathematics, Science, Arts, Medicine, Economy, Education …
In popular history accounts, the rise of European/Western scientific and artists is preceded by the Dark Ages. But, that is not a true depiction of the reality. During these “Dark Ages”, Muslims advanced Continue reading →